Amsterdam daycare abuse trial: defence calls for ‘not-guilty’ verdict

Amsterdam child abuse suspect Robert Mikelsons should be found not guilty on almost all charges because the evidence against him was obtained unlawfully, Mikelsons’ lawyer Tjalling van der Goot told the trial in Amsterdam on Monday.


Mikelsons is charged with abusing 67 children at daycare centres in the city and at private homes where he worked as a babysitter.
In particular, the evidence to back up charges of producing child pornography and the possession of child pornography made by others was wrongly obtained, the lawyer said.
Confession
Mikelsons’ confession on its own is not enough to make the charges stand up, the lawyer added.
He argues that the raid on Mikelsons’ home was made on very flimsy evidence: one mother had given his name after seeing a photograph of one of her children on a crime show. ‘That evidence was too thin,’ the lawyer said.
The public prosecution department has called on judges to sentence Mikelsons to 20 years in jail, followed by psychiatric prison.
The trial continues.

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